Mainframe (IBM System Z architecture) System Programmer here in Brazil (almost 4 years)
\o

Finishing my graduation in Computing Science

I graduated high school in June 2010 and I am currently enlisted in the delayed entry program for the Air Force. I'm working for an HVAC company in the mean time.
I built my own computer and stumbled upon linux and I was instantly interested. I don't know a lot about Slackware yet but I'm learning.

20 yr IT engineer, CompSci degree currently director of an IT group. The part that uses Slackware is the part of me that loves technology and needs to learn something every day (they don't really let the director touch anything!). Slackware specifically and open source in general allow me to try something new all the time.

I've been using Slackware since v8 (installed from floppies one Friday evening). My current pet project is the Amahi home digital asst. I also dabble in Tiki (CMS), ps3mediaserver, dd-wrt and Nagios.

Great thread! Love to see the broad spectrum of life experience among fellow slackers. But, I don't think we are normal...

\\Greg

Depends upon which end of reality you look from. For example I put down that I worked at the Post office part time and was a part time smallholder, but before that I had 20+ years in sales, marketing and running my own businesses.

Then I began to understand that I was approaching life from the wrong direction, now from my reality people (Slackers) who use Linux are the ones that are normal and the rest of the world is ...

samac

I'm 28 years old Analyst programmer in Enterprise Application Integration area. Nice to meet you all

Project Manager in Environmental Consultancy

I trained to be a Catholic priest for three years. Then I went into teaching for five years and now I'm self-employed looking after PCs and networks for private and small business customers. I still prefer reading Thomas Aquinas!
:)

I was a web programmer since I graduated from Uni, learned cold fusion, jsp, php, but then I need to setup my own apache and mysql and finally I found out I got more excited in managing a GNU/Linux server ;) I then started from zero again and got myself a job of IT support and eventually learn on my own to become a sys admin.

I first used Mandrake, then Debian, now Centos at work. At home I use Slackware. I'm now working as the department head of the company sys admin section and everyday busy handling all computer related stuffs, team building, explaining to other colleagues how computer and server works and especially contributing the little knowledge I know about Internet to the management since we're doing trading with our own web store, combating with DDOSer, project handling, chasing deadline, follow up with vendors, calculating costing of the company IT expenses and many other more which nothing to do with GNU/Linux. That's why when I gone back home, I can have my own sweet time writing script and reading manuals and docs(I like reading man) which I don't have the luxury in work time to do that. And by using Slackware, I have to do a lot of OS editing myself, but this is why I like Slackware ;)

24, student robotics , croatia

I'm an IT engineer. Working with Linux since 1996. Where I work we always say: Slackware, distro for REAL MEN.

NMR Spectroscopist

Fairly long-time LQ member, but have slowed in posting over the last few years.

I use Linux everyday but have moved away from Slackware, still love it, but Debian (and distros built on Debian) won me over a few years ago. I'd still consider myself a Slacker since I did use it for many years for everything from Beta Testing the Americas Army video game both client and server portions, to web/ftp/desktop systems. Never gave me any issues and one of the most stable, and for me at the time, one of the easiest to install and configure OS`s I have ever used. Once you had it running the way you wanted, it would just chug right along.

But to the answer of the original question; occupation? I have been in the US Military for over 22 Years. Started using Linux (RedHat) back in 1998 when we had to move away from VMS and learn Solaris UNIX for part of my Military job. Linux and UNIX were fairly similar so it helped to be able to learn while at home and at work.

Pretty much self taught myself ever since. Went from RedHat, then to Slackware for many, many years, then Debian a couple years ago, and now a mixture of Pure Debian, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint. I love APT :-)

journalist (daily news - crime, justice, features...) and i have one more exam to aquire masters degree on a faculty of political science...slack is a hobby :-)

Do you by any chance work for HSBC? When I did co-op there I was on on a mainframe development team, and we had a Brazil division.

I'm a small business owner mainly maintenance stuff and landscaping. A painter by profession 13yrs but really found a love for IT in college after switching from music and fell for Slackware in an instant. I did some programming in Pascal and I'm now on to C basically (still learning tho but a fast learner). I'm intent on writing Linux kernel code or contributing in some other way to the development of my beloved OS...